By Audrey Watters. I’m halfway through my year-end review of (what I think are) the important trends in education technology in 2014. The word count for the series so far hovers around 25,000, and I have a lot more to say. More...

By Audrey Watters. I’m not a big fan of using the Hype Cycle to explain the adoption of technologies. The Hype Cycle is a great piece of marketing for the research firm Gartner, but I’m not sure of its utility beyond that. Yes, sometimes it does seem like certain trends reach a “Peak of Inflated Expectations” then sink into the “Trough of Disillusionment.” But not all trends work that way, and the Hype Cycle does nothing to explain why or why not technologies become interesting or important or mainstream. There’s not a clear timeline for adoption or rejection or “best practices” to emerge. As the annual Horizon Report illustrates, for example, some technologies – hyped or not – stay on the cusp of adoption for years. Predicted to become “a thing,” some instead simply fade away. More...

The European University Association (EUA) launches its 7^th TRENDS project, part of its flagship series of research analysis of developments in European higher education. TRENDS 2015 will focus on how the Bologna Process and other recent policy changes have contributed to fostering new forms of learning and teaching. Previous TRENDS reports. More...